Viral capsules

Viral capsules

Researcher assistant professor Jane Tao and Dr. Junhua Pan at Rice University has finished a three year project to map the atoms that make up a virus’s protective shell called a capsid. These capsids help the virus protect their genetic material from the host cells protective mechanisms.

They used Penicillium stoloniferum virus F (PsV-F) the virus that affects fungus to make penicillin. Many types of viruses use the spherical capsid found in PsV-F. The information provided from the images could help scientists find better ways to fight viral infections and create designer viruses for gene therapy. The team also hopes that by examining the structure they can learn more about the capsid forming process.

The team used X-ray crystallography to create the image. Several months were spent creating crystal samples of the PsV-F. Then hundreds of X-ray diffraction images were taken. By analysing were the X-rays scattered after hitting the crystals the team created a 3D image of the capsid.

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